New Staff Fill Important Roles at the Libraries

The Libraries have hired a number of highly skilled librarians to help advance its role as a 21st century research library.

Alexandra Bisio

Alexandra Bisio began a two year appointment as Processing Archivist for the Critical Theory Archive in July. The Critical Theory Archive in the Department of Special Collections & Archives holds scholarly material of major figures in the field of critical theory. Alexandra is currently focusing on processing the papers of UC Irvine Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature and English, J. Hillis Miller.

Alexandra has a bachelor’s in American history from Santa Clara University and a dual master's in archives management and history from Simmons College. Prior to coming to UC Irvine, Alex was an Assistant Processing Archivist at Boston College, and a Fellow in the Harvard University Archives.

The Libraries welcomed Emilee Mathews as Research Librarian for Visual Arts in August. Emilee will develop the Libraries’ collections and services in the areas of art history, art, film and media studies, visual studies, and digital arts. She brings expertise that will allow her to work with students and faculty in the use of the image database ARTstor and other visual arts resources.

Emilee has a bachelor’s in art history from Portland State University, a master’s in art history and a master’s in library science from Indiana University. For the past year, Emilee has been the Interim Director of the Fine Arts Library at Indiana University and the Interim Director for the Art Librarianship Specialization and dual degree program at Indiana's School of Library and Information Science.

Jonathan Obest joined the Libraries in July as the new Development Officer. He will play a leadership role in helping the Libraries implement fund raising plans to acquire external support for library resources and services.

Jonathan received his bachelor’s in political science at UC Irvine. He has prior development experience as Associate Director of Development at the California Western School of Law in San Diego and as the Annual Giving Officer at Woodbury University.

John Renaud joined the Libraries as the new Assistant University Librarian for Research Resources in July. He will provide leadership for the recently formed Research Resources Division which includes the Acquisitions, Cataloging, Collection Development, and Special Collections & Archives Departments. John’s expertise in the areas of scholarly communication, collection development, and digital scholarship will allow him to play a key role in strategic planning at the campus and system-wide level.

John holds a master’s in library and information science from the University of Rhode Island, a master’s in education in curriculum & instruction from the University of Vermont, and a bachelor’s in philosophy & political science from American University. He has filled a variety of roles in his professional career, most recently serving as the Director of Collection Strategies and Scholarly Communication at the University of Miami Libraries.

Sara Seltzer began a one year appointment as Archivist in the Department of Special Collections & Archives in July. Her primary responsibilities are the accessioning, processing, and management of archival and manuscript collections in all formats and collecting areas.

Sara has a bachelor’s in history and art history from UC Riverside, and a master’s of library and information science with a specialization in archival studies from UCLA. She has recent archival experience as a Consultant with History Associates where her clients included the Orange County Great Park Corporation and as a Project Archivist at UC Riverside.

In August, the Libraries welcomed Dr. Thuy Vo Dang as Archivist for the Southeast Asian Archive & Regional History in the Department of Special Collections & Archives. Since 2011, Thuy has served as the Project Director for the Vietnamese American Oral History Project at UC Irvine, a collaboration between the School of Humanities and the Department of Asian American Studies with the UCI Libraries. In her new role as a member of the Special Collections & Archives Department, she will help enhance the collections and services of the internationally recognized Southeast Asian Archive and expand our collection of Orange County regional resources as well.

Thuy has a bachelor’s in Asian American Studies and English from Scripps College, and a master’s and doctorate in ethnic studies from the University of California, San Diego. A teacher and a scholar, Thuy has taught at UC Irvine, UCLA, Loyola Marymount University, and UC San Diego.